Kapil Mishra lashes out against demand of his arrest over alleged hate speech

Mishra said he was being called a "terrorist" who fight for hardcore militants in Indian courts.

"Those who did not consider Burhan Wani and Afzal Guru as terrorists are calling Kapil Mishra a terrorist. Those who go to courts to get Yakub Memon, Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam released are demanding Kapil Mishra's arrest. Jai Shri Ram," he tweeted.

On Sunday, Mishra had led a rally in northeast Delhi's Maujpur area, near Jaffrabadfavour in favour of Citizenship (Amendment) Act where he was seen giving an ultimatum to Delhi Police to clear the roads or else, he said, they would take to the streets, media reports said.

Hours later, clashes erupted in the area between anti-CAA and pro-CAA agitators, in which so far 21 people have died and 189 were injured.

Among 21 deceased, 19 were civilians, one police officer and one Intelligence Bureau official,

However, Mishra has been criticised by his party colleague and MP Gautam Gambhir for making provocative statements.

"This is unfortunate. Whoever has done this, strict action must be taken - whether from BJP, Congress or AAP. Kapil Mishra's speech is not acceptable. This is about Delhi not about any political party," Gambhir was quoted as saying by NDTV during a visit to the hospital where injured policemen are being treated.

Delhi BJP Chief Manish Tiwary has appealed to all party leader to make efforts to establish peace in the national capital and refrain from doing anything that creates confusion and sends wrong message to the people.

Mishra said he was receiving death threats and was being used by journalists and politicians and questioned if supporting CAA was a crime. He said he was not afraid as he had not done anything wrong.

Meanwhile, Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to advise the police commissioner to file FIRs against alleged provocative speeches by three BJP leaders after which violence erupted in Delhi, said an NDTV report.

A bench of justices S Muralidhar and Talwant Singh said this while hearing a plea seeking lodging of FIRs and arrests against those involved in the violence in northeast Delhi.

During the hearing, the court ordered the court staff to "play Kapil Mishra's video clip in the courtroom", the report said.

The video clips of two other BJP leaders Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma, who also allegedly made hate speeches were also taken into consideration by the court.

The judges pulled up the Delhi Police for inaction despite seeing the video clips showing hate speeches.

"When the commissioner was made aware of such statements, does he need someone to approach him to take action," the court observed.